Diagrams that graphically present relations between objects are used in many applications including, but not limited to, word processing applications, presentation applications, spreadsheet applications, and the like. Organizational structures, network structures, and the like may be visually represented by a diagram. Diagrams may include simple or complex objects and connect those objects in many different ways. Traditional systems for applying style to a complex object may not allow developers or advanced users to add style descriptions to the application during use. Some applications may allow for adding styles to existing charts or layouts during setup, but those still do not allow adding styles for future layouts that do not exist at the time of the creation of the style.